Pneumatic closet-seat buffer.



T. J. FLOREY.

' PNEUMATIC CLOSET SEAT BUFFER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 5. 1915.

1,158,039., Patented 001;. 26, 1915.

figi- Z 3 W I 4 M Q 4 'UNTTED sa ari q TILGHMAN J. FLOREY, 0F WASHINGTUN, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO AMEBICAN SANITARY WORKS, OF NEVJ YORK, N. Y., A CQRPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

PNEUMATIC CLOSET-SEAT BUFFER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Get. 26, 1915.

Application filed May 5, 1915. $eria1No. 26,03 1.

. b all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, TILGHMAN J. FLonnY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Washington, in the county of Warren and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pneumatic Closet-Seat Buffers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to buffers for water closet seats, and has for its object to provide a combined elastic and pneumatic cushion, which is mounted upon the underside of the seat and rests on the rim of the closet bowl, to the end that the seat is held the proper distance from the bowl, as well as safely removed from the injurious action of the water and urine which invariably splash from the bowl.

A further object is to provide an elastic rubber ring or part having cavities in its opposite sides, in which air is entrapped for producing a pneumatic effect whenever pres sure is applied to the said ring. And a further object is to provide novel and simple means for. adjustably securing the buffer to the closet seat.

I attain these objects by the means set forth in the detailed description which follows, illustrated by the accompanying drawing, and then particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Figure 1 is a broken elevation and part section; showing one of my improved buffers applied to a closet seat and resting upon the.

closet bowl, the bufier being relaxed, as when merely supporting the closet seat. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the circular securing washer. Fig-8 is a bottom plan view of the circular buffer. Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view of a modified form of a buffer. Fig. 5 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 1; showing the buffer under compression, as when the seat is supporting a person. Fig. 6 is a central vertical section, taken on line 66 of Fig. 4-.

Heretofore, the majority of water closet seats have been provided with relatively small round and more or less solid rubber buffers, resembling buttons, which are held in place by screws which pierce the rubber and are then driven into the underside of the seats. These buffers, after a short time become inelastic and brittle and being relatively small, they soon become crushed and worn away until the screws contact with the top faces of the rims of .the bowls. In a little while, owing to the frequent use of the closet seats, and the relatively heavy weights applied to the seats, the rims of the bowls are abraded and marred by .the screws. The crushing of the buffers, as de scribed brings the seats into too close relation to the bowls, and the urine and acids, as well as the water, which invariably splash upwardly from the bowls, corrode the metal parts, and destroy the finish, as well as, rot the wood. Under such conditions, the joints of the seats not only separate and the sections become warped, but the whole underside of the seats becomefilthy and unsanitary. It is a particular object of the present invention to remedy these defects and difficulties, and to this end, I provide ,buffers for closet seats, which consist of elastic rubber parts of peculiar and novel desigmwhich will now be described.

In the drawing, 2 representsone iform of my improved pneumatic bumper, whichconsists of a circular piece of rubberin the form of a ring, having a relatively thick and rounding annular bearing portion 3, which rests upon the rim 40f the closet bowl 5.

6 represents a beaded annular flange which surrounds the clear opening 7 in the center of the ring The top of the bumper Qhas a relatively narrow annular bearing surface 8, which extends slightly above the top side of the flange 6, and thissurface engages the bottom side of the closet seat. The preferred method of securing the'bufi'er 2 .tothe closet seat, is by means of a metal, wooden or fiber plate, or washer, having. a flat circular portion 10 which fills the opening 7, and whose top surface is substantially-flush with the top surface ofthe flange .6. ,Skirt- .ing the circular portion ;10 of the plate is a downwardly and outwardly curved flange or trough 11, which receives the flange 6 of the bumper 2. The center of the washer 10 has a perforation at 12, through which is loosely inserted a screw 13. The head of the screw bears against the underside of the plate, while the threaded portion of the screw is driven upwardly into the wooden seat 14.

In applying the buffer 2 to the bottom of the seat 14, the screw 13 isdriven inwardly until the annular surface 8 bears firmly against the under surface of the seat, as best seen in Fig. 1. When the bumper 2 is applied as last described, there is provided a cavity or air space of relatively broad area, as 15, between the bumper and the underside of the seat 14, which normally contains air at atmospheric pressure of such volume as to afford a substantial air or pneumatic cushion, whenever the bumper is under compression, as when a person sits upon the seat 1% (see Fig. 5). The underside of the buffer 2, owing to the construction and arrangement of the annular rib or bearing 3, the flange 6, and the washer 10 and flange 11, provides another air chamber or cavity of considerable area, as 16, which, when the said bearing 3"is in contact with the top surface of the rim t of the bowl 5, also contains air at atmospheric pressure, which serves as an additional cushion. By the provision of the cavities 15 and 16, both of which contain suflicient air to produce an effective cushion,

all shocks and jars, due to the sudden impact of the seat when falling upon the rim of the bowl, are greatly lessened, and serious injury to the seat and related parts is thereby obviated. ,At the same time the elastic quality of the rubber part 2, coupled with the pneumatic effect produced by theconfinement of the air in the said cavities renders sitting on-the seat more comfortable, than if the bumpers were composed of the usual solid rubber parts, as'formely used.

Fig. 1 shows the normal condition of the buffer 2, as when it is merely supporting the seat 14:; while Fig. 5 shows the relative position of the various parts when the bufier 2 is compressed by the weight of a person sitting on the seat. Figs. 4 and 6 illustrate a modification of the bumper, wherein the rubber part 2" is in the form of an oval, and wherein 10 represents the washer having a similarly shaped flange 11 which engages and holds the bumper in place, In this modified structure, two screws 13 pierce the washer l0 and hold the bumper against the bottom of the seat 14. This oval bumper has similar shaped cavities 15 and 16, and performs the same functions as the bumper 2.

It is obvious that a closet seat buffer constructed and arranged as herein shown and described affords a bumping area several times greater-than any of the old styles of bufli'ers I known to me. The heavy annular bumping rib 3 affords a broad elastic bearing upon the rim of the bowl which will withstand long use and hard service without danger of marring the bowl-rim. The annular rib 3, when the buffer is properly positioned relatively to the top of the rim of the bowl effectually. shields and protects the metallic fastening parts from the splashing of the water and urine and they are therefore not liable to become corroded or rusted. The entrapping of the air inthe' cavities 15 and 16 whenever the seat is brought into service position (see Figs. 1 and 6), adds a pneumatic cushion effect to the elastic nature of the rubber buffer, which tends to prolong the life of the buffer, and at the same time renders the closet seat noiseless as well as comfortable for the users.

My improved closet seat buffers are extremely simple and may be produced at small cost. They possess many advantages over the solid rubber buffers heretofore employed, as will be apparent from a careful reading of the foregoing specification, and a further description of the same is deemed unnecessary.

Having thus described my invention, what 1 claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,

1. The combination with a closet bowl having a rim adapted to support a seat, and a seat overlying the said rim, of a buffer secured to the bottom-side of the seat and engaging the said rim, said bufler comprising an elastic ring having a rounding rib bearing directly upon the said rim, and having a flange surrounding the opening in the ring, a support for said ring having a circular raised portion tightly filling the said opening and having a trough-like margin engaging and adhering to the said flange, and a screw piercing said support and screwed into the seat for holding said ring in place.

2. In a buffer for closet seats, the combination with an elastic ring, one side of said ring having an annular bearing surface for engaging a closet seat the other side of said ring having a rounding rib for engaging the rim of a closet bowl, the central portion of said ring surrounding the opening thereof comprising an annular flange, of a support ing-plate having a circular raised portion which tightly fills the said opening and having an annular trough to receive the beaded portion of said flange, the said plate being movable with the said flange during the compressing and relaxing of said ring, and fastening means cooperating with said plate for securing said ring to the closet seat.

3. The combination with a closet bowl having a rim adapted to support a seat, and a seat disposed above said rim, of a buffer interposed between said seat and said rim, said buffer comprising an elastic rubber body having a central opening and having a depending annular rib which engages the rim of the bowl for forming an air space facing the bowl, and having an upwardly projecting annular bearing surface engaging the bottom-side of the seat for forming an air space facing the said seat, said air spaces being separated by a beaded flange which surrounds the central opening in the body, a washer filling the said opening and having a trough-like portion to receive said flange for closing the said opening and for supporting the body, and a screw piercing said washer and screwed into the seat for ad justably holding the body in place.

4. The combination with a water-closet bowl having a rim adapted to support a seat, and a seat suitably hinged for overlying said rim, of a buffer interposed between said seat and said rim, said buffer comprising an elastic body having a rib adapted to contact with the rim for forming an air cavity facing the rim, and having an an nular bearing-surface adapted to engage the underside of the seat, said rib and said bearing-surface arranged adjacent the periphery of the body and surrounding an annular flange which skirts the open center of the body, a supporting disk tightly disposed in the central opening of the body having a trough-like margin to receive and adhere to the said flange for preventing the displacement of the air in said cavities, and a screw piercing the center of said disk and screwed into the seat for yieldingly securing said body to the seat.

5. A pneumatic bumper for closet seats, comprising an elastic part, having a continuous depending rib adapted to contact with the surface of the rim of a closet bowl, and having an upwardly projecting continuous bearing surface adapted to engage the underside of a closet seat, said rib and said bearing surface surrounding a clear opening in said part, a supporting-plate tightly filling the opening in said part having a flange of greater diameter than the said opening, said plate disposed in a plane substantially midway between the extreme top and bottom surfaces of said part for providing air spaces facing respectively the seat and the rim, and a fastening device piercing said plate and secured to the seat for holding the bumper in place.

(3. A buffer for closet seats, comprising an elastic ring secured to the underside of a closet seat in position to engage the rim of a closet bowl, said ring having a relatively large opening in its center surrounded by a beaded flange, the upper side of said ring having an annular bearing surface adjacent the periphery thereof and extending above the said flange for providing an air space between the ring and the seat, the underside of said ring having a rounding ring-like rib adjacent the periphery for engagement with the top surface of the rim, said rib extending below said flange for providing an air space facing the rim, a supporting-plate having a raised portion tightly filling the opening in said ring and having an annular trough engaging said beaded flange for supporting the ring, and a screw loosely piercing said plate and screwed into the seat for yieldingly holding the ring in place.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

TILGHMAN J. FLOREY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, 1). G. 

